Cheers Bourbon 09/09

8/14/2019 Cheers Bourbon 09/09

1/4

www.cheersonline.com22 | september 2009

American Whiskeyolds its Own

The Makers Manhattan at

Caf Nell in Portland, Ore.

Tato a o aat otu too uot fo Ama bo oo.

By Jack Robertiello


2/4


3/4


such as Blantons, Bookers and Black Maple Hills, priced rom$8 to $24 a serving. Tey look or Gentleman Jack or JackDaniels Single Barrel rather than Jack Black, she says.

In Louisvil le, there is no lack o operations eaturing Bourbon.In act, the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau promotesthe Urban Bourbon rail, a collection o establishments,including landmarks the Old Seelbach Bar and Te Brown, thatserve at least 50 Bourbons each.

While Proo on Main at the 91-room 21c Museum Hotelmakes the list, the restaurant was designed not as a Bourbonpalace but as a ne dining establishment and cocktaildestination, a place downtown where woman could wear theirlittle black dress, says Bonadies.

It was key to include Bourbon, but also great cocktailsbecause there were plenty o great Bourbon bars but not somany where you could get great cocktails, Bonadies notes.

ourists and locals are driving interest in whiskey, especiallyamong newer brands, so the restaurant oers regularly changing

whiskey fights or $16 to $18 and has partnered with distilleriesto choose single barrels or exclusive house usage. Te menu

always includes at least one classic whiskey cocktail, priced rom

$8 to $10, as well as house creations priced rom $9 to $11 suchas Hoodwinked, made with Eagle Rare, Aperol, St-Germainand Regans Orange Bitters. As hoped, the whiskey-basedcocktails are a growing share o the bar business.

pOpUlAr QUAFFs BAck eAsT Washington, D.C. has long been a whiskey stronghold

where connoisseurship runs high, says Derek Brown, drink

consultant and head bartender at the speakeasy-style bar, TeGibson. Bourbon remains the whiskey choice o consumers.Rye has denitely made inroads, but Bourbon is the spirit I getthe most calls or.

At the Gibson, he uses Old Weller Antique Bourbon in anumber o cocktails, which Brown calls a great mixer thatpacks an appropriate wallop. Makers Mark and Knob Creekare the most popular call brands, with Wild urkey and FourRoses also doing well.

Sambonn Lek, head bartender at the roughly 580-roomRenaissance Mayfower Hotels own & Country Lounge inD.C., reports that brands such as Gentleman Jack and Single

Barrel Jack Daniels, Woodord Reserve, Bookers, Bakers

Leading Brands of American Straight Whiskey(thousands of 9-liter cases)

Brand Supplier 2007 2008 % Chg

Jack Daniel's Brown-Forman Beverages 4,679 4,725 1.0%

Jim Beam Beam Global Spirits & Wine 3,264 3,129 -4.1%

Evan Williams Heaven Hill Distilleries 1,030 1,120 8.7%

Maker's Mark Beam Global Spirits & Wine 720 770 6.9%

Early Times Brown-Forman Beverages 687 649 -5.5%

Wild Turkey Pernod Ricard USA 588 636 8.2%

Ten High Constellation Spirits/Barton 487 486 -0.2%

Old Crow Beam Global Spirits & Wine 385 398 3.4%

Ancient Age/AAA Sazerac 365 380 4.1%

Heaven Hill Bourbon Heaven Hill Distilleries 270 290 7.4%

Kentucky Gentleman Constellation Spirits/Bar ton 194 217 11.9%

Gentleman Jack Brown-Forman Beverages 173 208 20.2%

Jim Beam Small Batch Beam Global Spirits & Wine 170 181 6.5%Ezra Brooks Luxco 162 175 8.0%

Kentucky Tavern Constellation Spirits/Barton 163 166 1.8%

George Dickel Diageo 135 125 -7.4%

Old Charter Sazerac 130 125 -3.8%

Old Grand-Dad Beam Global Spirits & Wine 124 121 -2.4%

Woodford Reserve SBL Brown-Forman Beverages 95 102 7.4%

Old Forester Brown-Forman Beverages 104 100 -3.8%

Source: The Beverage Information Group

Whiskey-based drinks such as the Hoodwinked cocktail

above are a growing share of the bar business at Proof

on Main in Louisville, Ky.


4/4


and Blantons are popularly requested on the rocks, oten byinternational guests intrigued by whiskey. Te hotel carries atotal o 16 American whiskeys, priced rom $10 to $35.

Older regulars preer Manhattans, and overall MakersMark, the house Bourbon, is most popular; he uses it inhis Old Fashioned and signature Whiskey Sour made with

Makers Mark, Bourbon, resh lemon and honey. Both arepriced at $14.50. Lynchburg Lemonade and the KentuckyMartini, made with Makers, amaretto and bitters, also makethe bars 101 Martini menu.

Various economic issuesthe declining dollar, the high costo other brown spiritshave helped steer guests to American

whiskey, says Matthew Boettcher, director o restaurants orthe Mayfower. Interest has encouraged the hotel to carry thethree top Jack Daniels iterations ater years o carrying only

Jack Black, as well as such top shel tipples as the 20-year-oldDistillers Masterpiece, priced at $35.

Adam Bernbach, head bartender at D.C.s Proo, says that

American whiskeys attraction may ade when the weatherwarms in other regions, but not in D.C.especially as localbartenders have championed the Rickey, the regional classicoten made with gin but originally made with Bourbon.

He credits the amazing value o American whiskeyas a reason why so many bartenders like to add classics andexperiment with new recipes, and he says greater rapportbetween bartender and guest makes selling them easier. Hesseeing growing interest in Bulleit, especially among women,

and he himsel likes working with Bualo race, Sazerac Ryeand Elijah Craig 12 and 18 year olds.

Bernbach is in the middle o changing the Proo menu, and hesays he intends to ocus on the creative, the seasonal and the culinary,

with emphasis on lesser-known classicsincluding a highballselectionand spirits served neat with garnishes. American whiskey

is to be ront and center. Its a great spirit to work with, and wellstart with the original Rickey and build on that.

keeping cOMFOrTABle in The nOrThwesTIn the Pacic Northwest, contemporary drinking trends vary

place to place. At El Gaucho in Seattle, one o our steakhouseoperations the company owns in the metro area, customers aregetting through rough economic times with comort oodsand such amiliar whiskies as Makers Mark, Knob Creek andBookers. Teyre oten served neat or on the rocks, a style thataccounts or about 60 percent o whiskey business, says headbartender Laren Waterbury. Te restaurant group stocks 13

American whiskeys, priced rom $7 to $20.Teyll spend $15 on a specialty cocktail i you push them

that way, sure, but they really want to be in their comort zone,he says. With Bourbon and steak such a popular pairing, ElGaucho goes through tons o Makers Mark and Blantons,says Waterbury.

He does a brisk business in classic Manhattans and OldFashioneds, too, the ormer with Bulleit and orange bitters, thelatter in classic style: Peychaud bitters, Angostura bitters, JimBeam Black, simple syrup, orange twist but no muddled ruit.Both are priced at $14.

At the Portland, Ore. American-style bistro, Ca Nell,

American whiskey is a seasonal choice, more oten ordered inall and winter, says owner and bartender Darren Creely. Hesays his customers are warming up to the sippable, easy qualityo many modern whiskies, though its hard to say whether thatsdue to the improved quality o whiskies or the evolution ocustomers palates. Te classics are all represented on his menu,including the lesser-known Williamsburg, $10, made like aManhattan but served in an absinthe rinsed glass, and the Mint

Julep, $8. Te restaurant carries 10 American whiskies, pricedrom $6 to $10.

Creely cites one trend that has pleased American whiskeyproducers: His sta, mostly in their 20s, are big Bourbon ans,

something he also sees more among younger customers whoseem to have skipped right past vodka and ound their tastebuds more interested in whiskey.

As i the longstanding dream o producers has come true, itcould be that the American palate nally has returned to its own

whiskey. Perhaps, like the intense interest in local ingredientsand traditional American dishes, the taste or our own whiskeyonce again is in vogue. l

Jack Robertiello is a former editor ofCheers and a judge at suchevents as the San Francisco International Spirits Competition andthe International Rum Festival. More of his writing can be found

at http://drinksink.blogspot.com.

The Louisville Convention

and Visitors Bureau in

Kentucky promotes the Urban

Bourbon Trail, which features

restaurants that serve at

least 50 Bourbons each.

Documents

Cheers Bourbon 09/09